Someone who loves reading but doesnt have time to do so

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When I read Wolf Hall I gobbled it down much like my 9 year old stuffs chocolate cake in his much barely chews before swallowing. Much to my regret I realized what a wonderful read it was when I had finished. So , when I borrowed the sequel ‘Bring Up the Bodies’ I vowed to take my time, to be a seasoned gastronome of the written word and savor every turn of phrase, prose, ….basically really take my time with it. And , oh boy was it worth it!

Mantels setting of the scenes allows you to feel the fear and terror of being at the whim and beck and call of arguably history’s most interesting king Henry viii. Her portrayal of the somewhat inept king is brilliant. The reason d’etre of Cromwell is as clear as how you would think in your head ( at least it feels like that is how I would think). Her style of explaining complex political intrigues and making them sound normal is unsurpassed. Anne Boleyn plays less of a role in this book and we are introduced to Jane Seymour and an interesting side to Jane Seymour is presented.

THis has to be the first Man Booker prize winning book (s) that I have liked and loved!

What a book! I had heard about this book a couple of years ago when it initially got published. Well I picked it up at the library and I wasnt disappointed. It like going into Cromwell’s head and to hear and feel his thoughts and feelings. Its an amazingly well written book that is soo different to others in the same genre (e.g. books by Phillipa Gregory). I love it and will be getting the follow on book Bringing Up the Bodies.

A rather quick read over a week with my little boys. They liked it in bits. Definitely evocative of an olde worlde New York. A strange tale though with little empathy in it – case in point Stuart running away from home to find a bird (no wonder they left this bit out of the movie)

Powerful. That is the only word I can think of to describe this tome. I havent slept without thinking of this book since i finished reading it a few days ago. This book is a paradigm shifting book. My ideas of Nigeria, Africa, war and peace and colonialism were challenged and ultimately I feel like I have a lot of reading to do. I LOVE LOVE Chimamanda’s style of writing. Will be added to my personal library of African literature.

This is the second in The Camel Club series of books set in Washington DC. Again the book has an interesting plausible plot supported with funny quirky characters. We get to meet a new member to the Camel Club in the guise of con woman Annabelle Conroy. She is a strong confident ( no pun intended) woman and it is a refreshing character to get to know. There are no gratuitous sex plots to hinder one’s reading experience. The baddie could be badder but hey all things cant be perfect right. Forgeries, old biddy spies, rare books, cons, gambling, spies etc etc

In this one we also get to knoe the ragtag members of the Camel Club a bit better and Milton as always comes up tops.

Loved it and am sad it was the last in this series so I will have to find other DC set books to read…

I first read of this book in the Guardian newspaper in an article about books nominated fora new book award ( cant remember the name of the award) . Anyway I reserved a book at the library and when I got it…WOW! I could not put this book down. SO incredibly well written with characters so real you feel for them. The best thing about this book has to the new world that Chimamanda opens up. I felt transported to all the places she wrote of to the lives lived by Ifem and Obinze. Their young love so powerful and authentic. Its tragic in turns but there is always a comedic observations written in a stylish prose. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be recommending it highly. I read it a solid 2 days.

It makes me want to read Chimamanda’s other works as well as some of the book that one of the books character’s referes to.

Picked on a whim without ever having read Woodhouse at all. This book was a long read but this was absolutely lovely.The story was set in 1920s America and England. The characters were well developed, I especially loved the hapless Lancelot ‘Ginger’ Kemp. Woodhouse excelled at giving insight (for me at least) into the mind of the upperclass Englishman via the loathful Bruce Carmyle. My only gripe is the seemingly hurried way in which he was dispatched. One would have thought that after having chased Sally all the way to America (again) that he would have at least tried harder to understand what happened.

It makes me want to read more Woodhouse stuff and I shall certainly do so.